"Revan!" Carth gasped when she saw the women walk in from the council's docking bay.
Carth ran over to the soot covered women, she looked tired and her Jedi robes were dirty and torn. She smiled at him tiredly, "Hey fly-boy."
Carth couldn't say anything; instead he hugged her and then whispered in her ear, "Don't ever do that again… I was so worried."
Revan looked up into his eyes, she could see the stress and worry behind them, "I'm sorry… but I had to catch him, had to find out why…" Carth nodded.
"Padawan Revan, I will lead you to your new corridors so you may freshen up. The council wishes to speak with you after you have finished." Another Jedi called to Revan.
Revan frowned slightly and followed the Twi'lek Padawan to the Jedi chambers. She led her to a room and motioned for her to go inside, Mission was already there studying a data pad.
Mission smiled, "Heya, They didn't have enough rooms for us all so I'll be bunking up with you, hope you don't mind."
Revan grinned, "Nope, maybe we can play some Pazaak later."
Mission motioned to the other bed and some folded clothes on them, "They brought you some new robes, your others were destroyed…"
"Oh…" Revan frowned, "Glad I left most of my stuff on the Ebon Hawk then." Mission nodded, a dark cloud crossing her face.
Revan watched Mission, "You ok Mission?"
Mission looked away and wiped a hand across her face, "Hey, it's ok, we are safe here," Revan commented soothingly.
"I know, I'm just worried… this is the fourth time…" Mission sniffed.
"Fourth?" Revan raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, you didn't hear… someone vandalized the Ebon Hawk," Mission seemed angry then.
"What?!" Revan gasped, "What happened?"
"Someone broke into our ship and scattered our stuff about, but didn't steal anything…" Mission sounded angry… but Revan could tell she wasn't telling the whole truth.
"What else happened…" Revan felt sick then, where was hoppy…
"Someone also burned some bad things into the control panels, things like falsehood, betrayer, and The Sith will rise again." Mission winced, "I also hear they put some choice words in too."
Revan felt a weight press on her chest "It was only a Gizka…"she told herself.
"Where's Hoppy…" Revan sounded sad and a bit worried.
Mission shifted a little and looked over Revan's shoulder, "I'm sorry, I should have told you that first, look under those nicely folded clothes on your bed," Mission smiled.
Revan sighed noticeable and picked up the clothes to reveal a tiny, curled up gizka.
"I insisted we take him here," Mission smiled, "The Jedi weren't too happy."
Revan chuckled, "I bet they weren't."
Mission shifted again as she folded her legs up on the other bed, "Oh, and T3-M4, Canderious and HK-47 are installing a new security system on the Ebon Hawk."
Revan frowned, "Who could have found the original codes…"
Mission stared at Revan then wrinkled her nose, "You know, you smell pretty ripe…" Revan laughed and headed into bathroom.
******
Light flickered in the large room where the Jedi Masters gathered discussing the night's events as well as Revan's case. Jolee had his arms folded across his chest as he listened carefully the to Jedi's arguments. He shook his head; the council could be wise and yet so blind to the truth.
"Is it wise to let Revan have free roam now that things have quieted down, she is still dangerous," One Master's grainy voice cut in.
"You seem to have forgotten tonight's events; events that are still unfolding," Master Vandar commented, "The dark side still clouds our vision and the motives behind the assassination attempt are not known."
A Twi'lek Master commented on this, "but some motives are clear, she did help destroy the Star Forge and has been honored by the Republic. She would be a prime target for that very reason."
"Yes, but can we be so sure…" Vandar asked.
Several Jedi whispered and nodded in the silence, "There also the matter of Carth…" The Twi'lek commented.
Vandar nodded, "It cannot be wise to let her go without retraining and also with that… pilot."
"He does have a name," Jolee piped up. Several Jedi stared in his direction; they seemed slightly surprised, "After all that has been done to her, she deserves a little happiness."
"You speak out of turn Jolee," Master Dru'uke commented, "You know how dangerous it is for Jedi to love, strong emotional entanglements can…"
Jolee cut the furry Jedi Master off, "Bantha Poo-doo," he said, "You have heard the events that took place on the Rakata planet, love is what saved her… and what keeps her on the path of the light side…"
A protocol droid interrupting their conversation, "Masters, Padawan Revan is here to see you."
A medium-build, brown haired women walked into the council chamber. She had her hands hanging to her sides and see looked into the faces of the hushed Jedi that watched her enter the room. Force powers were strained as they tried to feel what emotions, what motives lay within this woman. She walked to the center of the large, tiled room and bowed, "Masters." Her voice echoed slightly in the quiet chambers.
"Padawan Revan, will you please explain the events proceeding and during tonight's assassination attempt, please be honest and state any emotions you may have felt." Master Dru'uke asked.
Revan straightened her back, and spread her feet slightly apart, "Yes Master," she commented.
Revan told them about the Ceremony, how she felt slightly tense with all the people around, the bright lights and then how she felt that slight wrongness before the sniper had attacked. She told them how HK-47 had been the first to notice and how he had dispatched the Sith sniper. Revan talked about the trip back to the hotel, and then how Carth had said he would wait for her downstairs. Revan noticed a few Jedi shift slightly when she talked about Carth, they knew… She told them about the boom and how she had chased the Sith apprentice and finally to confronted him on top of that roof.
"You felt anger…" Dru'uke interrupted her, and then he looked at the other Masters as if trying to prove a point.
Yes she did feel a small amount of angry, but it was heavily diluted with remorse and regret…she couldn't stop that Sith from killing himself.
Another Jedi spoke up, "You seem to have some trouble controlling your emotions Padawan, is this not true?" Master Ranketa asked, his antennas twitched slightly.
Revan started to feel uneasy, "They are trying to bait me…" She thought.
"What do you mean Master?" Revan asked calmly.
"Answer the question Revan," A Twi'lek Master commented.
Revan felt the uneasiness grow slightly, Jolee was about to berate the Jedi council when Revan replied, "I cannot live without my heart Master."
Some of the Jedi seemed surprised at her answer, "Jedi are forbidden to love, and such strong emotions can lead to the dark side, especially if what Master Ranketa says is true." Master Dru'uke berated her slightly.
Revan looked straight into his face, "It's the only thing that kept me alive, and kept me from falling…"
The Master looked slightly shocked, his right hand twitched slightly, and clearly he wasn't expecting that answer.
Revan looked around the room at the faces staring at her, "I would have killed myself in that poisoned dream caused by the sea beast except for Carth. I think I also would have welcomed death. I think I might also have claimed the Sith throne again if it wasn't for Carth and the others. Love and friendship is what saved me, not the Jedi code."
The council chamber stood in stunned silence, then the Jedi turned to each other and whispered slightly, clearly Revan had made her point.
Vandar broke the whispered silence, "Thank you being honest Revan. Now about these dreams you've been having?"
The made Revan more uneasy, they were terrifying, haunted dreams that would not leave her be. "Be calm," Revan told herself, as she breathed in deeply.
She told them then; she talked about that strange "vision" she had with the little lizard, how it always ended when she opened the tomb door. Revan also told them about the pained dream on that distant world where she murdered that family… sometimes she saw flashes of brief moments. Sometimes they involved Malak, others were strange creature she hadn't seen before, and some were distance worlds. Most of the time, however, she couldn't recall the dreams, only what emotions they left her with.
Revan tried to remain clam while telling the council about these strange visions, but some of the pain and remorse slipped through, unknowing some of the Jedi Masters could detect those emotions…
Master Vandar nodded, "We must deliberate more, you are dismissed Revan."
Revan bowed and gratefully left the council room, she was very tired. Revan walked back to her room and fell over onto her bed. Mission was already asleep in the other bed. Soft snores whispered from her direction.
She rubbed her eyes, "Ugh…when they want answers they really interrogate you," Revan thought tiredly. She sighed and drifted off to sleep…
******
Admiral Dodonna stared at the progress reports that were sitting in front of her, "Strange…" she thought.
She picked up another data pad and went over it's contents, "Very strange…" She lifted her eyes from the pad and stared out over the gigantic city. "The Sith are retreating, but its too organized, too well planned…could someone have taken command so quickly?"
The Sith were so unorganized after the attack on the Star Forge, they fled blindly. Like frightened animals they fought back randomly and without purpose but now… Now they did still retreat, but it was organized, planned. There had even been a few successful attacks on the Republic, and there were also deceptions. This made the Admiral very nervous; she knew this wasn't going to be easy.
The admiral tapped her fingers on her desk and continued to stare out the window, "Who has taken command of the Sith?" she mused.
There was a slight tap on her door, "Come in," Dodonna called out.
A man walked in and saluted, "We have more news from the front line." He handed her a data pad. Admiral Dodonna smiled and nodded at him.
She frowned as she read the data pad, more strange happenings. Another false lead to which led to nowhere, and the Sith managed to sneak a huge convoy from under the Republic's nose…
The admiral frowned and again watched out the window, musing over her uneasy thoughts.